The video “Bending Sounds” by Tim Sessler wonderfully captures the sites and sounds of the NYC subway. As the camera slowly meanders through the stations, people rush by, jumping on and off train cars, in and out of turn styles, and along subterranean corridors. The sounds of chatter and footsteps, and the rumble of the...
As any Torontonian knows, Toronto’s transit plans are seriously in flux. After what seems like an eternity of planning a network of Light Rail lines, new mayor Rob Ford has decided to unilaterally nix that idea and build a new subway under the auspice that the “war on the car is over.” Yet amidst all...
I’m fond of subways, but I don’t like riding them. They’re fast and efficient and they make a statement. They’re also ridiculously expensive. But that’s not the point. The point is this: What is the psychological impact of traveling to and from work every day underground, in the dark? In my own life, if I...
A couple of days ago, Yonah Freemark published some statistics that should trouble anyone in the North American transit world: Los Angeles plans a 13.8 km long subway line at a total cost of $6 billion. That works out to $435 million per kilometer. Not to be outdone, New York is planning a 2.7 km...
How you define a problem determines how you solve it. Most transit agencies, planners and governments tend to define an urban public transit problem as a decision between Roads and Rails: Should we use buses, light rail/streetcars or subways? It’s no surprise then when buses, light rail/streetcars or subways are the end result. That’s what...
To use CPT properly you have to be creative, original, daring and ultimately a little bit mad. That madness is good and important, especially nowadays when cities viciously compete for talent and tourists. Homogenous, cookie-cutter cities no longer make the grade. People want remarkable. Light Rail (LRT), Subway and Bus technologies are useful (sometimes) but...